"This article written by Paul Graham in 2023 discusses where new ideas come from. According to Graham, the way to reach new ideas is to notice anomalies: what looks strange, what is missing, what is broken? You can see anomalies in everyday life, but the best place to look for them is at the boundaries of knowledge. Knowledge grows in a fractal manner, and the exploration of these gaps often gives birth to new fractal buds. Graham states that this process contributes to both individual and societal knowledge accumulation.

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# How to Get New Ideas (Exploring Anomalies at the Frontiers of Knowledge: A Pathway to Innovative Ideas)

January 2023
_(Someone fed my essays into GPT to make something that could answer questions based on them, then asked it where good ideas come from. The answer was ok, but not what I would have said. This is what I would have said.)_

The way to get new ideas is to notice anomalies: what seems strange, or missing, or broken? You can see anomalies in everyday life (much of standup comedy is based on this), but the best place to look for them is at the frontiers of knowledge.

Knowledge grows fractally. From a distance its edges look smooth, but when you learn enough to get close to one, you'll notice it's full of gaps. These gaps will seem obvious; it will seem inexplicable that no one has tried x or wondered about y. In the best case, exploring such gaps yields whole new fractal buds.

2532 http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html July 2004

2533 http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html _(This essay is derived from a talk at Oscon 2004.)_

2534 http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html A few months ago I finished a new [book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0596006624), and in reviews I keep noticing words like provocative' and ""controversial.' To say nothing of ""idiotic.'

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Relevant Keywords: generating new ideas, noticing anomalies for ideas, knowledge gaps, standup comedy and ideas, exploring knowledge frontiers, idea generation techniques, finding ideas in everyday life, understanding knowledge fractals"